A Warm Home
by WardenN7
Summary: You could only let out a breathless sort of laugh. Hide surely was too good to be true. But he was yours and that was all that mattered.


You are not sure how to feel about him at first. He is the complete opposite of you, actually. Bright and loud and flashy - some would even say obnoxious. You, on the other hand, are dull and grey and boring, someone who walks through the crowd yet is never quite noticed. A ghost of sorts.

But _he _noticed_ you_. As impossible as it seems, the boy who was larger than life (you learn later that his name is Nagachika Hideyoshi, but likes to be called Hide for short) had noticed you, the boy who was a miniscule speck of dust. He, with his bright smiles and loud laughs, had come over and talked to you, had pushed into your world of greys and whites and blacks, adding a variety of colors that you weren't sure had even existed before until him.

Even more surprising was that he offered his friendship. This boy, who had the potential to be friends with anybody, had wanted to be friends with _you_. It was confusing and worrying all at once, but his warm smile commanded your worries to settle, silently pleading for you to not fret.

So you complied. He said he had no friends yet (quite surprising, actually), and that he wanted to be friends with _you_. He had _noticed _you; you were no longer the boy who walked through crowds yet was never seen, the boy who tried to speak up but was never heard. You were _somebody_.

And how relieving it was to hear that. You were worried for a moment that you actually _were _a ghost. Knowing that you weren't made your heart race pleasantly, a newfound adrenaline that had been hiding until now.

You are not quite sure where this boy of sunshine had come from: he seemed almost too good for this world, for _him_. Dull and grey, you smiled little and read often, always keeping to yourself with your nose pressed into the lovely pages of your books, the very definition of a loner.

After about a week of worrying over this during the beginning course of your friendship, you bring it up to Hide, who has already declared you his "best friend in the entire world". When you speak of your worries to him he only shakes his head aggressively at you, placing a tiny hand on your shoulder.

"No need to worry about that, 'Neki! I promised you we'd be best friends forever, and Nagachika Hideyoshi does _not _go back on his promises!"

"B-but, Hide-" you try to reason with him. He has to know the grave mistake he is making: being your friend would only damage him in some way, you were sure. He was too good to be damaged. Hide deserved to be happy and whole.

"Nope!" Hide interrupted him, crossing his arms with the stubbornness only a child could posses. "So what if you read books or aren't as loud as everyone else? My grandpa loves to read, and my grandma still loves him!"

You did not expect this. The information you had been given seemed to open up a whole new perspective for you and your young mind. Weakly, you attempted to hold your part of the argument, but Hide interrupted once more.

"How many times do I gotta tell you? We're best friends! I'll love you forever, Kaneki! That's a promise."

Then, without any proper warning, Hide spit on his palm. Trying to balance the spit so it wouldn't drip off his hand, he held his hand out to you. You shuddered at the sight of the saliva.

"Umm . . . Hide . . . I'm not sure if this is-"

"Who cares what anybody thinks! This will be our pact that we'll be together forever, no matter what! Besides, what reason would you have to ever hurt me?"

"But . . . with spit?"

"Kaneki, don't be picky here, we don't have the means to draw blood from our hands at the moment. Unless you want to wait?"

The thought of having to cut your palm open was all the incentive you needed to spit in your own hand and shake with Hide, solidifying your friendship forever.

* * *

><p>"Hide!" you call out, the fear ringing out of your voice and echoing in the wind. "Hide! Where are you?!"<p>

You were running through the neighborhood, calling out the name of your best friend, adrenaline coursing through your body as your heart hammered against your chest. The two of you were in the last year of middle school and had kept up your steady friendship from the moment you met, and there was plenty that you had learned about Hide these past few years. One of them being his knack for being unusually selfless and concerned for your wellbeing.

Now being one of those times. There had been a group of boys that were picking on you for getting better grades than them, and Hide was enraged when you showed up late one day with a busted lip. He kept his composure, but you could see the wheels turning in his head, as if he was figuring out something deep and important.

Of course, you never imagined that Hide would actually challenge three boys to a brawl in some random alleyway. According to Hide's friends, making a big deal about it, he had spouted off nonsense like "protecting his best friend's honor" or something like that.

Apparently the brawl should've been over by now, so now you were running through the neighborhood in a desperate attempt to find your friend. It was cold - winter had only just begun - but you were willing to go through cold or heat to find him. You would not let him get hurt on your account.

"Hide!" you yelled out once more with no response. You had no luck in finding him, and the last spot you could imagine him being in was the playground the two of you often visited.

It took you a few minutes to make it to the playground, but you saw the silhouette of a kid sitting on the swingset, and you ran over as quickly as humanly possible. Your noisy footsteps alerted the kid of your presence, and when he lifted up his face quickly, you identified the boy as Hide. Except he looked . . . _not _like Hide.

There was dried blood on his nose. He had a swollen eye, and his lip was busted, reminiscent of your own. You quickly ran over to him, and when you got close enough, you hugged him as tightly as possible.

Hide hissed and pulled away from you, rubbing his shoulder to soothe the pain. You pulled back in mortification, but before you had a chance to apologize Hide began to laugh. He smiled at you, and as always, your body was warmed by the sight of it.

"Knew you'd come around at some point, 'Neki," he muttered out, careful to not move his lips too much. "I fought those kids for you, you know! I beat 'em really good, too."

"You're an idiot!" You barked out at him. Maybe you could have come up with a better scolding if you weren't so frustrated. "Only idiots do stuff like that!"

"Stuff like what? I was helping you out, Kaneki! What's the big deal?"

"The big deal?! The big deal is that you could've gotten really hurt! Those boys are dangerous, Hide, what would I say to your parents if something happened to you?"

"Well nothing happened to me at all, so you don't have to worry about telling them of my tragic death. Except, you know, if I do face some sort of tragedy, I would appreciate it if you made me sound cool. Tell my family that I got in a big rumble, but I did it to protect my sister's honor."

"Hide . . . you don't have a sister. You're an only child."

"I'll have you know that my sister resents that statement, Kaneki."

"Shut up," you muttered, and you took a seat in the empty swing beside him. Using your feet, you gently pushed yourself off, swinging slightly. No words were exchanged between the two of you: only an odd sort of silence. Not comfortable, yet not uncomfortable. Some sort of in-between.

After a few moments of the in-between silence, you spoke up. "You need to take better care of yourself, Hide. Getting into fights with boys because of me . . . that's just ridiculous."

"It's not though," Hide muttered back, not quite as enthusiastic as before. "They hurt you. I couldn't let them get away with thinking they could hit you and there not be any consequences. I'm your best friend, what good would I be if I wasn't ready to defend you at any moment?"

"That's not the point," you sighed, pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration. "You promised me when we first met that nothing bad would happen to you because of me. You promised you wouldn't get hurt, and here you are, bleeding on a swingset."

There was more silence and then a sigh. "I'm sorry, Kaneki," Hide whispered softly, and you felt something warm and soft touch your hand, light as a feather.

You fought to not gasp. His touch was like being shocked and it sent shivers down your spine, but you did not bother to say anything. Instead, you maneuvered your hand to fit it in his, intertwining your fingers together and squeezing gently.

"It's okay, just promise me you won't act like that again. I don't think I could deal with something happening to you."

You knew that Hide understood. Even now, you were supposed to be having dinner at your Aunt's house, but knowing her she didn't even bother to make enough for you. Hide was all you had left.

"Hey," Hide whispered again. "If you don't mind me asking, did you bring something for me to clean up with a little bit? I'd like to not freak out my mom as much as possible."

You could only let out a breathless sort of laugh. Hide surely was too good to be true. But he was yours and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><em>You had never imagined that you would end up hurting Hide though. You knew you were hurting him, in one way or another. The constant texts, and you ignoring each text: it was impossible to not be hurt by it.<em>

_You had no other choice. You wished that you could express this to Hide. You were afraid, though. Afraid he would hate you, that he would not stay with you like he promised._

_Even if you did not see him as much, the simple memory of his smile was enough to keep you going. You held your memories of him in the highest regard now, and you thought of him daily. All you wanted was for him to be happy and safe._

_You refused to hurt him. He promised he would never be hurt by you, and even though you were still hurting him, you chose the lesser of two evils. It was your job too, to make sure he was not hurt by you, and you decided that ignoring texts was better than eating him alive._

_Only when you were turned into a ghoul did you realize how far you would go to ensure the safety of Nagachika Hideyoshi._

* * *

><p>"Yo, Kaneki!" A voice called out to you. Even in your pain the voice sounded beautiful. "What's with the getup? That in style these days?"<p>

You stopped for a moment. Slowly, you turned around, muttering a rough, "Hi-de . . .?" His voice, in all it's familiarity, made you feel uneasy, like a dog being cornered before it was ready to strike.

"Whoa," Hide began, and you heard the footsteps slosh across the sewer and over to you. "Ain't that something . . . special makeup that that would even shock Hollywood . . .

"All this time . . . you've had to suffer like this . . . "

His voice . . . you weren't sure what to think of the voice. It was scary yet comforting. It mixed up the emotions inside of you, and suddenly you weren't sure of anything. You were vulnerable to this Hide voice.

"You won't need it anymore," Hide told you, and with your silence, he clarified, "The mask, I mean."

"I'm seeing things again," you whispered to yourself. You tried to stop your shaking, but it seemed almost impossible at this point. "Hide can't be here. It's an illusion. I'm dreaming . . . I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming. It's nothing special, it happens all the time."

The comfort you attempted to give yourself did not work. "But . . . i-if it isn't . . . H-Hi-Hide, he'll know that I'm . . . that I'm a . . ."

Suddenly, there was a hand on your shoulder, and you felt warm again. "I already knew, man!" the cheery Hide voice said. "Who cares about that? Let's just go home already."

_You felt human again. All of your past came rushing through your head: your first meeting with Hide, that one day at the park, those few Christmases you spent with him and his family. It was true that when you were alone you stuck to yourself, and the time spent with your Aunt, under all of her poor treatment, made you feel like a lesser human being._

_With Hide all of those feelings dried away in his warm presence. He made you feel more than human: you were unstoppable when you were with him. You were a person of great importance in his eyes, and it didn't matter if it was just him, because _he _was all that mattered._

_And for a moment - a small, blessed moment - everything was as it once was. No more pain, no more fighting. Just peace._

The pain returned ten-fold, and as your head throbbed you gripped it, keeling over once more. Your screams were harsh, and you rocked yourself savagely, but it did not remove the pain. If anything, it was enhanced, and you were ashamed that even the Hide you thought up had to see you like this.

"I want to help you," he said pleadingly. "Going by the surrounding feel and the way they've blocked off routes . . . there's almost no chance of a ghoul making it out . . . "

"Hide," you rasped, and your voice did not sound like you. It sounded evil, as if the monster inside of you was trying to claw it's way out. "I hear these voices. Run away . . . or I'll-"

"That's a nasty wound," Hide murmured. "Sorry . . . Can you fight with all you've got just one more time?"

And suddenly, everything went black. When you wake up, Hide is gone, and there's the sweet taste of blood in your mouth. You would probably scream if you were even yourself.

* * *

><p>"<em>Kaneki!" Hide yelled, launching himself at his best friend. He wrapped his arms around your neck and spun you around, and you complied, even if it made you dizzy afterwards.<em>

"_Hide, I . . . what are you doing?" You ask, and you have to grip his shoulder to not fall over._

_Hide laughed, loud and hearty, resting his hands on your shoulders. "I've just missed you, 'Neki! Three whole days of being away from each other. The torture of it all!"_

_You closed your eyes and tried to regain your composure. After you could stand long enough without your vision blurring, you focused in on Hide, who graced you with a cheeky grin. "You alright there, sweetheart?" he asked teasingly._

"_Do you think you'll ever greet me like a normal human being, Hide?"_

"_Maybe I don't greet you like a 'normal human being' because I'm a ghoul!"_

"_. . .You're not a ghoul, Hide."_

"_Aww, where's your sense of humor, Kaneki? Indulge me for once!"_

"_Ghouls aren't something to joke about, Hide. Whether they're real or not, they seriously scare people. And it sounds like they could really hurt you, as well."_

"_Pffft, whatever. As long as I'm around I won't let any ghoul lay a hand on you, 'Neki, so no worries there."_

"_How do you expect to fight any ghoul off?"_

"_With my awesome muscles, of course! Can't you tell that I've been working out?"_

"_Not really, no."_

"_Your words wound me__!" Hide exclaimed dramatically, clutching his chest as if he'd been struck.__ "Maybe you could give me a kiss on the cheek and make it all better?"_

_There was a pause, a weird sound that came out of your throat, and Hide __laughed __like a mad man._

"_Don't say stuff like that!" you snapped, blushing and trying to hide it with your jacket._

"_Haha, Kaneki, you look so cute when you're flustered. Let's stay best friends forever!"_

"_Hide, we went through this years ago, I already told you-"_

"_C'mon, what would it hurt to say it one more time? Kaneki Ken, I will be your best friend until the end of time."_

"_Hide, are you serious?"_

"_Don't spoil my fun, 'Neki, that's rude."_

"_Ugh. Nagachika Hideyoshi, I will be your best friend until the end of time. There, are you happy now?"_

"_Very much so. Now let's go! I'm craving a burger from Big Girl."_


End file.
